PARIS: Sizzling Suggs brings the heat

They'll peek over the cliff of doom Sunday, knowing that another
loss will sentence them to a crime Bolts boosters thought
impossible: missing the playoffs in consecutive years with starting
quarterback Philip Rivers.

True that. But that Chargers' negative would be flipped with a
victory over the visiting Ravens, and a stumble by the AFC
West-leading Broncos.

In that scenario, the Chargers' sad-sack season would retain a
pulse — uh oh, did someone say sack?

Santa Claus, we presume? Guess again.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs is the man packing presents for the
Ravens and pain for the Chargers. He leads the NFL with a
career-high 13 sacks and paces the energetic, up-field push for the
Ravens' impressive defense.

"He is a good defensive end, good outside linebacker, pass
rusher,'' Chargers left tackle Jared Gaither said. "He is a good
player."

Good? Guys coming off a three-sack, three-forced fumbles game
are more than good. Just maybe while reading this you're eating a
cereal whose mascot yells "Grrrrrrreat!" That would be Suggs as
well.

"He can pretty much do it all,'' said Gaither, a former Raven.
"That's why he is up for defensive player of the year. I'm looking
forward to the matchup."

Careful what you wish for, big guy. The Ravens, who have an
NFL-high 45 sacks, have learned not to bother racing Suggs to the
quarterback.

"It's really not a competition, because Terrell Suggs always
gets the sacks,'' defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who has five
sacks, told the Baltimore media this week. "After Terrell Suggs,
then we have a competition against each other, because Terrell
Suggs, we already know he is going to get it because he is great
like that.''

Great gads, why didn't the Chargers snag Suggs out of Arizona
State? The Chargers had the 15th pick in the 2003 draft, not far
from where Suggs was selected at No. 12.

But instead of climbing a few spots, the Chargers went the other
way. They passed on elevating to get Suggs — declined to stay put
to draft safety Troy Polamalu at No. 16 — and went down. The
Chargers traded out for the right to nab defensive backs Sammy
Davis and Terrence Kiel.

Suggs notched a sack in each of his first four games and hasn't
slowed since. What's gathering momentum is his candidacy as the
NFL's top defensive player.

"Definitely,'' Ngata said. "He has been doing a great job all
year. He's been a great leader for us and doing really well at
stopping the run — not only the pass, but doing really well on the
run. I think, without him, we wouldn't be as good of a
defense."